SF Giants’ wild card deficit grows as Alex Cobb exits crucial start vs. D-backs in third inning

Clearly bothered by the impingement in his left hip, Alex Cobb left Tuesday’s start in the third inning after allowing 5 runs

PHOENIX — The Giants were well aware of the stakes in this two-game series against the Diamondbacks. If they win both, the wild card standings gap will be almost entirely erased; a tie would clinch the season series and secure a potentially crucial tiebreaker.

When they decided to move Alex Cobb’s scheduled start from Saturday in Colorado to Tuesday’s series opener in Arizona, they factored in as much as the extra days of rest for his troublesome hip. It’s difficult to imagine the decision backfiring even more disastrously.

Cobb walked off the mound after two pitches in the third inning of an 8-4 loss Tuesday night, clearly bothered by the impingement in his left hip. He appeared to labor through all 52 pitches, put runners on base in each of his two innings, and left after allowing five runs.

“It’s a letdown when you have the ability to put your presence on making the postseason and you don’t,” Cobb said. “There really isn’t any other way to put it.” When you talk about the highs and lows of the season, it definitely feels like the lowest part of the season when you see the playoff picture get further away from you in a game where you can kind of contribute and you don’t.”

The Giants’ loss was their 24th in 29 road games since July 18, and their fourth in their last five. This one dealt a significant blow to their playoff chances.

The gap between them and the D-backs has grown to 312 games with 11 games remaining, while three games and three teams separate them from the third and final National League wild card, with Wednesday’s series finale here marking their last remaining chance to make up ground in a head-to-head matchup.

“Nobody’s giving up hope,” Cobb stated. “Clearly, you knew you had to come in here and try to win both. When you look around the league and see that other teams took care of business, and you walk off the mound with your team in the position that they’re in, in a must-win game, there’s no worse feeling than coming in here.”

With LaMonte Wade Jr.’s triple and Joc Pederson’s 14th home run of the season, the Giants took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning against Zac Gallen, the D-backs’ ace and a National League Cy Young contender. Cobb, however, surrendered one run in the bottom half, and San Francisco lost the lead for good in a four-run second inning.

Cobb hung his head and grabbed his hip as he returned to the dugout following the 33-pitch second inning. He returned to the mound to begin the third inning, but he appeared to be in pain throughout his warm-up pitches. After his second pitch of the inning, he was clearly in pain, prompting manager Gabe Kapler and trainer Dave Groeschner to rush to the mound. After a brief conversation, Kapler summoned Alex Wood, while Groeschner escorted Cobb back to the dugout.

“We needed to take him out of that game.” He was unable to complete his pitches. “We could see it in both his stuff and the wincing in his face,” Kapler said. “He gave us everything he had, but… he wasn’t physically strong enough to get through the game today.” … It’s something he’s been working on. He felt good in the bullpen, but when he got out onto the mound and had to finish his pitches, it really bit him.”

Cobb’s prognosis has yet to be determined with 11 games remaining.

He had season-ending surgery in 2019 to address an impingement in his right hip, but doctors told him last week that they don’t believe this will require surgery. He said the pain wasn’t any worse than usual on Tuesday, but it still affected his ability to strike out batters.

“The biggest impediment is not so much the pain as it is the subconscious desire not to get on it,” Cobb explained. “The pain is something you can definitely tolerate.” It’s difficult because it feels like something you can overcome until it starts affecting everything else and favoring it and throwing more with your arm.”

Cobb was charged with five runs, his second-highest total of the season. Four came in the second inning, including two on a double-steal attempt when third baseman Wilmer Flores’ glove became dislodged and Flores made an errant throw home. Corbin Carroll raced home for the second run, and Flores said he was taken aback by him taking off despite the ball only being a few feet away.

“I caught the ball and was trying to be so quick that he kicked it out of my glove,” Flores explained. “From there, everything began… He can do anything because he is fast. I would have gone if I was that fast. He simply causes things to happen. However, this is a play that should not take place. (Bailey) made an excellent throw. I should have worn the tag.”

Cobb had two outs in the second inning without allowing a run when Geraldo Perdomo lofted a ball down the left field line. Statcast gave the pop fly a 9% chance of being hit and Mitch Haniger a 20% chance of catching it. But, as he approached the foul line, Haniger appeared to slow down and let the ball fall in front of him.

“If I can get to a ball by diving for it, I’m going to dive,” Haniger explained. It was out of range in this case, fell to the grass, and resulted in four runs.

In the fourth inning against Wood, Perdomo bunted himself on base and scored on Ketel Marte’s two-run single. The Giants lost their challenge after an unsuccessful look at a hit-by-pitch that put Gabriel Moreno on base to start the second inning.

“Obviously, we want to get those right as often as possible, and I think we’ve got a pretty solid track record of challenges,” said Kapler, who ranks seventh in MLB with a 57.8% success rate on challenges. “In that particular case, I had the opportunity to go back and review it as well as speak with our video lead.” In the time he had to make a decision, he saw an angle that clearly showed the ball had just hit the knob and another angle where the ball did hit the player. “However, that was after the fact.”

Cobb’s five starts of five runs or more have all come since he suffered a hip impingement in mid-June. His outing on Tuesday increased his ERA to 4.85 in 16 starts since June 8, when he said he first felt the discomfort, up from 2.71 in 12 previous starts.

Cobb was pitching on seven days rest for his second straight start, having received a cortisone injection prior to his previous start, and had historically performed better on extra rest. He had a 2.63 ERA when given six or more days rest, compared to a 4.50 mark when given four days rest.

On Wednesday, the Giants scheduled him to face Gallen and Logan Webb to face Merrill Kelly, pitting the clubs’ top two starters against each other in two games that have grown in importance after the Giants lost three of four in the series at Colorado.

The Giants chased Gallen after five innings, plating another pair in the fifth with back-to-back two-out walks to Flores and Mike Yastrzemski, but grounded into three inning-ending double plays and went hitless with runners in scoring position in their one at-bat.

After two consecutive bases on balls in the fifth inning, Joc Pederson struck out on three pitches to end the inning. Gallen hit him with three fastballs. Pederson swung at the first, then watched as the other two went inside.

“It’s definitely tough,” Flores said, “but I think we took really good at-bats against Gallen today.” “There is nothing we can do.” Just think about tomorrow… We put ourselves in this predicament. So we have to win tomorrow and then just keep going.”